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I am very serious on keeping a arowana... cant think of any other fish at the moment. something or the other kept happening in my life and cudnt keep a aquarium. now i have the place, thus can do. shall start with one small arowana.

Dear Lady Hobbs,

Thanks for your suggestion, shall put a filter asap. would also like to thank you for your comment. I am very humbled by your words of appreciation. Believe me, after having a dream for a few years and now being able to do it, by getting help from all of you around the world, I cannot thank you all enough. I feel so humbled and blessed for your advises. I feel really sad for the three arowana's who died and i cannot forgive myself for it. its really nice being here and being a part of this community. thanks very much.
After ur suggestion, i have looked around & spoken to ppl about building a aquarium, but all are quoting thru the roof.. I think i will have to find someone thru my Harley riders..! or make one myself like Aeonflame.

Latest on my aquarium - cudnt get pure ammonia or de-chlorination. heard from someone about conditioner thus need to look for it. Water is still being pumped with the built water pump + a

Thanks aeonflame for ur sump - wet/dry advice.

Flying out of Dubai to Bahrain for a day.. shall try to keep in touch and learn more.

Lady Hobbs, i have read ur artilcle about cycling. we had the arowana in the tank for about 18 hours. thereafter i started following your advice. had given the tank readings as well. so what tank readings should i expect to know that tank is ready ? appreciate ur input pls.

Welcome to the forum. Since you are in Dubai, some practical tips for aquarists here -

Most lfs here do not know much about fish or fish keeping, as you would have started to realise and the best way out is to reearch on your own. However there are some stores that are better than the rest.

Filters dont have to be branded but if you need JBL one place to get it is at Petzone or PetsPlus.

You can use Sera bio nitrivec, culture bacteria, to jump start the cycling process and add fish immediately. This is different from what most members of the forum do, but i find it very practical for Dubai. A bottle of the product is more than enough for your tank and its far cheaper than the ammonia method because water test products are far more expensive in Dubai than may other places worldwide. Available commonly.

I havent seen the API test kit in Dubai, but I do know its available in Abu Dhabi. You will get JBL and Sera more easily here.

Water conditioners - Tap water water in Dubai does contain chlorine and I believe chloramine too. You will need to use a conditioner. Prime is a good conditioner and available at Petzone. But there are other conditioners too with Tetra Aquasafe very popular amongst the sellers.

Tap water in Dubai has a pH lower than 7, in the range of 6.4-6.6 and is soft with kH in the range of 4 or so. Choose your fish accordingly.

Constructing a tank - while I havent done this myself, I do know that Aquarium Live Centre (attached to Lulu Hypermarket, Al Barsha) and Aquarium Concepts (attached to Dubai Garden Centre) make them. Aquarium concepts specialises in Acrylic ones which may be more suitable for larger tanks. Also there is another member on the forum - crazedmichael - who I beleive got his tank made. You may send him a message and check out where he got his.

good to see you got a new filter. sounds like you are still starting from scratch and have a brand new setup. are you familiar with properly cycling a tank? I would replace the airstone with an internal sponge filter. they are cheap and usually readily available. the added bio, mech, and oxygen to the tank is better than a simple airstone. try a single arowana and get him eating well before adding any fish. it will be worth it.....

Thanks for your advice, but tell me one thing please. What are the readings that i should expect to know that the tank is ready.

I have met many fellows in the last two days, i mean yesterday & Today.... they are aquarists from Dubai and since I have used the Bio bacteria, conditioner, and readings are good.... they say that the tank is ready.

I totally believe you guys more than anyone, but it would be better to know what to expect on the readings scale to see if things are going the right way.

As per the cycling article, ammonia is 0, nitrites is 0 & nitrates are high. for which we need to do the water change and tank is ready.

I have mentioned the readings of my tank. thus doesnt it kinda half qualify..?